Theater, out of the theater

Picture this: you spend the evening climbing in and out of cars where you experience a series of five-to-ten-minute plays that take place inside the cars (The Car Plays, La Jolla Playhouse, 2013–2014). Or you meet at a secret location in Little Italy and follow a set of clues that lead you from a neighborhood hotel to the bars and restaurants where the actors await you (Accomplice, La Jolla Playhouse, 2013). Or maybe you follow a tour-guide-like-narrator through University Heights, where each stop allows you to witness the unfolding of a relationship (San Diego, I Love You 2.0, Circle Circle dot dot, 2014).

Site-specific theater has been popular with the avant-garde set and in other parts of the country (and the world) since before you were born. This month, you can catch the The Grift at the Lafayette Hotel in North Park (La Jolla Playhouse — through March 22) and San Diego I Love You 3.0 on the UCSD campus (Circle Circle dot dot — Feb. 14, 15, 21, and 22).

If you miss these productions, don’t stress. The La Jolla Playhouse hosts the now-annual Without Walls (WoW) Festival, a long weekend of site-specific theater every October. And Circle Circle dot dot produces a new San Diego, I Love You every year.